Huge Win in Chesham & Amersham
Last night Liberal Democrats gained a 25% swing in Chesham and Amersham electing our 12th MP, Sarah Green.
18 Jun 2021
Wera Hobhouse MP urges government to incentivise solar power
29 Feb 2024
Could you run the Café at Great Denham Country Park?
Bedford Borough Council is looking for someone to open the café at Great Denham Country Park, bringing a fantastic venue to life.
18 Jun 2021
‘Safe’ is a feeling as well as a statistic
At the Highways, Assets and Transport Cabinet meeting held on the 17th June, a request from Lib Dem Cllr Sue Burfoot to introduce traffic calming measures in Smedley Street, Matlock was refused. Despite a petition signed by 50 local residents requesting these measures, the Cabinet Member for Highways, newly appointed Cllr Kewal Singh Athwal, has agreed with the officer report and recommended the refusal of the request on the grounds that there have been insufficient 'personal injury collisions' to warrant introducing measures to slow down the traffic. It seems that the way that road safety is looked at by the County Council is to regard it in cost benefit terms and (apparently) 3 people have to be hurt within 3 years before even the most basic traffic calming scheme can be funded.
PD
17 Jun 2021
Stoughton ‘Green Lungs’ project finishes planting
Back in late January, Guildford Borough Council (GBC) finished the planting of a range of new trees and shrubs at Stoughton...
17 Jun 2021
Cllr Will Salmon Updates us on Onslow Jubilee Gardens
Jubilee Gardens is not the best-known landmark in Onslow Village. For the last few years you could be forgiven for thinking of it as an unremarkable patch of wilderness nestling between the village phone box (now a community library) and the driveway to the recreation ground.
CWS
17 Jun 2021
Drop-in Vaccination sessions for residents aged 18 and over - this Saturday
This Saturday, 19th June, drop-in sessions for the Pfizer vaccine will be taking place for Bedford Borough residents aged 18 and over. No appointment is necessary, just turn up at either: The Harpur Suite, Bedford Corn Exchange, 13 St Paul's Square, Bedford, MK40 1SL, between 11am and 5pm. or King's House, 245 Ampthill Rd, Bedford, MK42 9AZ, between 1pm and 7pm You can find out more on the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group website here
17 Jun 2021
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath and spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero, called on the government to provide incentives for energy providers to develop solar power in the UK.
Mrs Hobhouse slammed the government for falling behind on meeting the UK’s renewable targets for solar energy capacity. The government plans to deploy 70 GW of solar power across the country by 2035. However, as of 2022, the UK had only installed 14.3 GW of solar pv.
Following a visit to a rooftop solar system installed by Bath & West Community Energy (BWCE) at Beechen Cliff School last year, Wera Hobhouse is keen to encourage the development of similar solar projects across Bath. The solar system is predicted to significantly cut the school’s fuel costs and reduce their carbon emissions by 52 tonnes a year.
In the House of Commons on the 27th February, the Bath MP noted that the UK is lagging behind the rest of the world in renewable energy investment, she urged the government to offer incentives to energy providers to improve solar capacity.
However, Andrew Bowie, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Energy Security and Net Zero, ignored Hobhouse’s proposals, failing to describe the ways in which the government could incentivise solar energy. Instead, Bowie said that the government’s Solar Taskforce would publish recommendations for solar power and reiterated the government’s target to deploy 70 GW by 2035.
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath and spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero, commented:
“The Conservatives are falling dangerously behind on meeting our targets for renewable energy production. It is no good the government setting an ambitious 70 GW solar target if they are nowhere near reaching it.
“It is clear that they have no plan to get us back on track to reach Net Zero. Evidently, they are more than happy to dismiss perfectly good proposals like incentivising solar power. That is why I am so proud that Bath is home to many community energy projects like the solar system at Beechen Cliff School, so that we can lead the way in renewables.”
“It is not just our climate targets harmed by the Conservatives’ delay. Families in Bath and across the country are struggling to pay soaring energy bills which investment in renewables could curb. That is why we Liberal Democrats would build significantly more renewable energy, aiming to generate 80% of our electricity from renewables by 2030.”
Peter Capener, Managing Director of Bath & West Community Energy said:
“Our work with schools is really demonstrating the value of community energy in both addressing the climate crisis and reducing fuel bills. Rooftop solar installed last year has already saved local schools a combined total of £134,209 and has reduced carbon emissions by 224.3 tonnes, which is equivalent to 12,173 journeys from Bath to Edinburgh by train!”
